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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977643">the making of mavericks</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Snek/pseuds/Silver_Snek'>Silver_Snek</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Snek's Star 'Verse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Ahsoka Tano as Obi-Wan Kenobi's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Ahsoka Tano Friendship, Clone Trooper &amp; Jedi Relationships (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Culture (Star Wars), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Jedi Culture &amp; Tradition (Star Wars), Lesbian Ahsoka Tano, Lesbians in Space, Multi, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano Friendship, Oh yeah and also:, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Togruta Culture &amp; Traditions (Star Wars), and anakin is knighted, but also plenty of fluff, like heavy angst sometimes, literally theyre just v soft together, my bad - Freeform, realities of war, so anakin is a knight, starts just before aotc, the clones all see ahsoka as their vod'ika, theyre Chaos Siblings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:34:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Snek/pseuds/Silver_Snek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Sithslayer himself offered to train her, Ahsoka Tano wasn't expecting her first week as a Padawan to end in the start of a galactic-scale civil war. Between suddenly being thrown into the role of Commander, Master Kenobi's former Padawan taking every chance to remind her that he didn't like her, and just trying to figure out her place in the Order, she's gotta get creative.</p><p>Or, in which Anakin Skywalker was Knighted before AoTC, and Obi-Wan Kenobi meets a spitfire of an Initiate that was about to be sent to Bandomeer. Of course, he won't let that happen... and the galaxy changes dramatically because of it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aayla Secura &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Aayla Secura &amp; Quinlan Vos, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Quinlan Vos, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Snek's Star 'Verse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907557</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>436</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. pilot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'd just like to say, genuinely kark the Soft Wars Discord. I just wanted to read an Ahsoka fic and they gave me ideas. Now I actually have an entire fic planned. I Blame Sol For This.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ahsoka Tano was one of the Jedi Order’s many headaches, and she knew it. She was trouble by Togrutan standards, which was by far a greater feat than being trouble by Human standards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you’re trying, young one, but I cannot take you on as a Padawan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed to herself for what was probably the eighty-millionth time since the news of her latest rejection and impending transfer to AgriCorps. Ahsoka Tano was out of time, out of chances. Even Master Plo wouldn’t take her, he wanted her to find her own path without him by her side. But Master Plo told her to take one last walk around the Temple before she had to go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her feet felt like lead weights as she plodded down some hall she’d never seen before, eyes cast downwards and refusing to look up as a trio of Jedi passed her— one smelled like burnt hair, making her nose crinkle and lip curl with disgust at the scent, before she realized where she was— nearby the Hall of Knighthood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course her feet had taken her exactly where she wanted to be most.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that she would ever end up a Knight, herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Too impulsive. Too emotional. Too wild.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Words that were never said, but she felt them stabbing into her chest anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She set her jaw, and tried not to pay attention to the three men. Well, keyword being </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried</span>
  </em>
  <span>— right up until she couldn’t dodge out of the way of a blue Twi’lek speeding down the hall after them, and she was sent sprawling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Force, I’m so sorry,” the woman said, and Ahsoka blinked up at her blandly. “Knight Aayla Secura. My apologies, Padawan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The title felt like a dagger to the heart, and she shook her head. “Initiate Ahsoka Tano. Won’t be for much longer, though.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently, the sullen tone was enough to make Knight Secura understand, and she blinked calmly, helping Ahsoka to her feet. “My mistake, then. Please, let me make your acquaintance in apology, if you have nothing you would rather be doing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wandering around the halls </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> really dull… “Okay,” she mumbled, and followed the Twi’lek as she caught up with the men, waving enthusiastically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master, wait up!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A dark-skinned man— she would have mistaken him for Human, if not for the scent of electricity and wild independence that accompanied Kiffar— turned and grinned at Knight Secura. “Padawan,” he called teasingly, and Ahsoka sighed to herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The newly-minted Human Knight rolled his eyes impatiently, twirling his ‘saber before clipping it back to his belt. “Aayla. Good to see you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you, Anakin.” Knight Secura paused, and the five Force-sensitives stood in the hall, looking between each other awkwardly. “This is Initiate Ahsoka Tano. I, ah, knocked her over, and I am taking her around for a bit as an apology. Initiate Tano, this is my former Master, Shadow Quinlan Vos, as well as Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former Padawan, Knight Anakin Skywalker.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi smiled gently, his eyes warm with pride as he looked at Knight Skywalker, and Ahsoka looked away, feeling her lekku twitch irratibly. Irrationally, she wished they would stop being happy for a moment— couldn’t they tell how </span>
  <em>
    <span>miserable</span>
  </em>
  <span> she was?  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Masters,” she said as politely as she could manage, quickly shoving that wish deep into her chest, locking it firmly away. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bitterness is a form of anger, Youngling,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Master Windu’s voice rung in her montrals. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the Dark Side.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do believe I’ve seen you around a few times,” Master Kenobi remarked, pulling her from her thoughts. “Master Koon was your finder, was he not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Master.” She nodded simply, trying not to think of how disappointed he must be in her. Going through all that trouble to bring her to the Temple, just for her to be sent away. Glancing quickly out at the sun, she checked the position and felt dread coil heavy in her gut. The transport would be ready to leave soon… and even if she didn’t want to go, she had a duty to the Jedi Order. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I might never be a Jedi, but I want to make them proud of me… </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look like you have somewhere to be,” Knight Skywalker remarked drily, and she had to bite back a frustrated growl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My transport to Bandomeer will be ready soon,” she said instead, noticing how Master Kenobi jolted slightly at the planet’s name. “Thank you for your kindness.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, Bandomeer?” Master Vos’s brows knitted together, and he frowned intensely. “You’re being sent to AgriCorps?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again, Master Kenobi twitched, and Ahsoka sighed heavily. “Yes, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In the name of the Force, </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quinlan, stop.” It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ahsoka’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> turn to startle as Master Kenobi placed a firm hand on Master Vos’s shoulder, his face hardening slightly. “This happens to many Initiates, no matter what our opinions are on the matter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Knight Skywalker scoffed. “Glad I wasn’t shipped off to be a farmer on some no-name plan— </span>
  <em>
    <span>ow!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold your tongue, Anakin,” Knight Secura scolded, still holding the shell of his funny not-montral hearing organ (what did they call them, hears? No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ears</span>
  </em>
  <span>) as she frowned deeply. “The Agricultural Corps are an honorable branch of the Order, and provide food for entire systems. If Master Kenobi had not honored Master Jinn’s request to train you, then you could very well have been in this Initiate’s place!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, Ahsoka stared at the Twi’lek in shock. She’d heard plenty of crass things said about her, about how she was doomed to anonymity on “some no-name planet” as a farmer without any passion for her work, but nobody had ever defended her quite so fiercely. There was, of course, Padawan Barriss Offee, who shared stories of her time under Master Luminara Unduli and would sternly tell off overly cruel Initiates and Padawans, but she had no power to stand up to a Knight, and she was hardly even around to defend the Togruta. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” Knight Skywalker snapped, tugging away from Knight Secura and rolling his eyes. “I’m gonna go set up my room. Bye, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka stared at his retreating back until he turned a corner, vanishing from view (though his footsteps were still easy enough to hear). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I apologize for my former Padawan,” Master Kenobi grimaced, and Ahsoka shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve heard worse. First time a Knight defended me like that, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can understand that myself, believe me.” His grimace became a wry smile, and the initiate frowned to herself. How would a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jedi Master</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the Sithslayer no less, know what that was like? As if sensing her unspoken question, he gestured to Master Vos.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Vos wore a dark look, and she felt chilled by it. Yet he still spoke calmly. “Obes here was shipped off to Bandomeer. Pure luck he met Jinn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Jinn. Another name she was vaguely familiar with. It was really only fuzzy memories from when she was first brought to the Temple. “It sounds like the Force wanted you to be where you are now, Master Kenobi.” She tried not to scowl at the silent implication: the Force had never been so cooperative for her. Knight Secura’s sad look told her she hadn’t entirely succeeded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When does your transport leave, little one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t bother suppressing the scowl at the moniker. “Twelve minutes, Masters. I should head to the hangar and be on my way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One last question, then, if you’ll entertain me.” Master Kenobi smiled gently. “Do you want to be a Knight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stopped dead, completely pulled up short by the question. “A Knight, a Shadow, a Watchman, a Healer… I just want to do </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and settling down to be a farmer wouldn’t really… make me happy, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very well, then.” He inclined his head, and a look of contemplation crossed his face. “I will leave you to your own devices. May the Force be with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And with you, Masters.” She bowed shortly, and hurried to the hangar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ten minutes later, as she was boarding the shuttle and sending one last glance around the Temple grounds, she felt a call in the Force. In her alarm, she stopped on the platform, and saw Master Yoda hobbling into the hangar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pilot paused out of respect for him, and Ahsoka bowed as he approached her. “Grandmaster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Going, where were you, Padawan Tano, hmm?” She frowned. “Offered to teach you, a Master has.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wh-what?” She almost dropped the little satchel in her arms. The grandmaster chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Taken an interest in you, Master Kenobi has. Accept, should you, and a Padawan, you will be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” She felt her eyes get impossibly wide, and then a wide grin spread across her face. “Of course I accept, Grandmaster!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, good.” He merely beckoned her, and she hurried after him— when he wanted to, Master Yoda moved </span>
  <em>
    <span>fast</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And when she entered the Council chambers, seeing Master Kenobi standing in the center with a look of steel in his eyes before he softened, he called, “Padawan Tano.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, if she almost started crying, then that was nobody’s business but her own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(She didn’t catch how Master Windu stiffened as one of the smallest shatterpoints he’d ever seem cracked wide open, and a million new shatterpoints were born from it, a thousand new possibilities in how to defeat the oncoming darkness.)</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. heritage, and the problems with it</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You are rather adept at that, Padawan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt a thrill at the title, and she smiled, looking over at her new master. “Master Ti taught me how to weave and craft by hand, since artistry is important on Shili.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you remember much about Shili?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hands stilled, and she felt her body go rigid. In her mind’s eye, she could see it all— the red-and-white turu-grass, the village of hunters and artisans, the faces of her littermates as she was taken away. “I remember… the day Master Plo found me,” she said, haltingly. “A slaver was wearing a Jedi robe and pretending to be a Jedi— my ahm, my </span>
  <em>
    <span>mother</span>
  </em>
  <span>, had sent out a call for a Jedi to come and pick me up, since I had started showing signs of Force-sensitivity beyond what a village seer could do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Village seer?” She saw him tilt his head curiously, and she hitched up her shoulders a bit. Would her ahm be mad she told him? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... um. A lot of Togruta, maybe one in fifty, are Force-sensitive. We’re not more powerful or anything, but we need less midichlorians to be because we’re already adapted to be in tune with the world around us. Even if others think we’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>savages</span>
  </em>
  <span>—” that earned a wince— “we have a culture. Village seers could sense emotion, sometimes sense intentions. They would get warnings when famine was coming. Those are things any Force-sensitive could do. But me… I started floating things around and taming snakes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand.” He smiled at her, and she wondered for a moment if this was what it felt like to be a good Jedi. To be smiled at for knowing things. “Please, continue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, okay.” She wove another row in her braid of silka beads, thin fingers deftly trading them over each other. “So, this slaver shows up, and I’m freaking out because I can tell he’s not a good person and that he’s gonna hurt me, but none of my clanmates— I mean, none of the other villagers understood. Then Master Plo showed up, and he took me to the Temple.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have a vivid memory of their culture,” Master Kenobi observed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not really… I was too little to understand a lot of it. I read about it in the Archives. Master Ti showed me where Master Jocasta put them, since Togruta traditions are so family-based and the Jedi that originally wrote them were so reluctant to share in the first place. It’s a private thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She finally finished the braid, and handed it carefully to Master Kenobi, turning her head and letting him carefully attach it to her headdress. Her head tilted as the new weight was added, and the beads brushed against her back lek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am glad you shared it with me, Padawan. I’m afraid I don’t know much about Stewjon, myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You never visited?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I never felt the need to.” He stepped away, and helped her to her feet. “Of course, it wasn’t much helped that—” Master Kenobi stopped as his holocommunicator beeped, and he sighed, holding it out in front of him and giving it a flat look of contempt as he read off the number before accepting the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Master Kenobi.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> An old, wrinkled Human man appeared in the blue light, and Ahsoka winced at his oily voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chancellor Palpatine, what an unexpected pleasure.” His face betrayed nothing, but the young Togruta sniffed in his direction subtly and cringed at the reek of disgust coming from her new master. “How may I help you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ah, my old friend, it seems that Senator Amidala has been placed in a precarious situation,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> the Chancellor sighed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“There is a plot against her life, and it claimed the life of one of her loyal handmaidens. If you and Anakin could protect her until the culprit was found, the Republic would be in your debt.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, Chancellor.” The elder Jedi smiled politely. “My Padawan is free to accompany me, of course?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a heartbeat, the Chancellor looked confused, then seemed to wave it away. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“But of course.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah. He must think Master Kenobi’s still talking about Knight Skywalker</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought to herself. As the holo shut off, the Jedi Master heaved a sigh, giving her a tired look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong, Master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing, Padawan. I had simply hoped to keep you and Anakin separate for longer. Nothing more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anakin.” Master Kenobi smiled at Knight Skywalker, and Ahsoka fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “It’s good to see you again so soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you, Master.” Skywalker grinned lopsidedly at him, and apparently didn’t notice the brightly-colored Togruta just behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is Padawan Tano. I believe the two of you briefly encountered each other.” His voice tightened slightly, and Ahsoka silently filed that away. Nervousness, maybe? Hesitance? It would be good to learn his tells early on. She didn’t want to upset Master Kenobi, and make him regret taking her… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skywalker, however, doesn’t seem to be nearly as observant. “Oh! Did Aayla take her on as a Padawan? Why’d she let you bring her here anyway?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Anakin</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he sighed. “Aayla is too young for a Padawan, and quite frankly Quinlan is far too busy for a second. I took her on myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a long beat of silence as the three entered the dining hall, and Ahsoka barely had time to register the women at the table before Anakin snapped, “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>replaced</span>
  </em>
  <span> me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, absolutely not.” Master Kenobi’s voice was strained despite seeming calm on the surface, and Ahsoka saw how his eyes darted to the women as well, clearly gauging their reaction. The women politely pretended not to notice what was happening. “I happened to recall what it was like as an Initiate about to age out, and wanted to give her the same chance Master Jinn gave me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She really, really hated having excellent hearing at times like these. She grimaced, making her way to the table and awkwardly bowing to the women present.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, ma’ams,” she began shyly, trying to block out Skywalker’s angry voice behind her. “I’m Padawan Ahsoka Tano. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman at the head of the table smiled kindly. “Thank you, Padawan. I am Senator Padmé Amidala, and these are my handmaidens. Dormé, Versé, Moteé, Ellé, Eirtaé, and Sabé.” Each woman nodded as they were called on. “It is a pleasure to meet you, as well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we there yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we there yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we there yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N— actually, yes. Padawan, pull your hood up, it looks like a storm on-planet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka sighed in relief. Master Kenobi was cool, but she could only cope with being in the small ship for so long. Three days of tracking some gravitational anomaly in </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wild Space</span>
  </em>
  <span> to find the bounty hunter that killed a bounty hunter they had paid to kill Senator Amidala (and yes, it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly </span>
  </em>
  <span>as frustrating as it sounds), and they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the planet “Kamino” that was mysteriously not in the Archives. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glanced out the viewport and— oh, great. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s a karking ocean planet</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought bitterly, looking at the choppy waves as they descended to a strange landing platform with utter distaste. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ve always hated oceans… </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The rain was violent enough to make her physically stumble as she scrambled after her master, who lifted his cloak to shield her as best as he could. Immediately, she regretted every clothing choice she’d ever made. Togruta run a lot cooler than Humans, since Shili and its moons were so warm, but that also meant that being stuck out in the cold rain was horrible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slid open for them, and Ahsoka ducked in quickly, regarding the sterile white walls. The entire place smelled like antiseptic, and it made her nose </span>
  <em>
    <span>burn</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Unsubtly, she coughed, trying to cover her nose and mouth to block out the stench.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Padawan?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was just then that she heard footsteps, light and long, and she jerked her head up, lekku twitching anxiously as she took a hesitant inhale, drawing the air over her scent glands. “Something’s coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever she had expected, it wasn’t a ludicrously tall, bone-white sentient with massive, dark eyes and equally pale clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Jedi,” she said politely, in an oddly airy voice. “The Prime Minister has been expecting you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They have?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ahsoka looked up at her master, but his face mirrored her own, in terms of total confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were expected?” Master Kenobi prompted hesitantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course!” the odd woman said, and though her face barely moved, Ahsoka saw a hint of a cheerful smile. “He is anxious to meet you. After all these years, we were beginning to think you weren’t coming.” Her face fell a bit, eyes going downcast. “Now please, this way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned and led them down the sterile hall, and Ahsoka tugged on her master’s sleeve. “Master, who’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would assume a Kaminoan, my young Padawan,” he replied simply. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A door unraveled in front of them, and inside was another stark-white room with a pale Kaminoan in a chair— the only decoration. Ahsoka shut her eyes as her temples throbbed with a headache— she’d always hated bright rooms Actually, she hated a lot of things. Oceans, cold rain, bright light. She clicked quietly, glad at least for the lack of decorations that would absorb the sound. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“May I present Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino.” She bowed, a beat off from Master Kenobi. “And this is Master Jedi…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” he finished for her. “And this is my Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I trust you’re going to enjoy your stay.” Lama Su’s voice was odd, and Ahsoka shifted in discomfort as she felt a pair of eyes raked over her. She kept her eyes closed, and clicked in response, taking in his tall figure and noticing the reverb in an odd shape around his neck. Maybe he wore some kind of brace or had a high collar? Out of nowhere, the reverb in the space beside the first Kaminoan changed. “Please.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi moved to it and she heard the shifting of fabric. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, a seat</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Still, she hovered nervously at his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And now to business,” Lama Su said without further preamble. “You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule. Two hundred thousand units are ready, with a million more well on the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka stiffened, cracking her eyes open and risking the migraine to stare at the Prime Minister. “Huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s… good news,” the older Jedi hurried to cover her note of confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please tell Master Sifo-Dyas that his order will be met on time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sifo-Dyas? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Who?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Master…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hummed slightly. “Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is still a member of the Jedi Council, is he not?” A very slight inflection in his voice betrayed an interest deeper than simple curiosity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Sifo-Dyas was killed, almost ten years ago.” Ah, that would explain why she’d never heard of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that.” He glanced aside for a moment. “But I’m sure he would be proud of the army we built for him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, so Ahsoka has never been the most collected of Jedi. Being impulsive is her entire reason for never being selected as a Padawan— for whatever bizarre reason made Master Kenobi choose </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it wasn’t that. So when her mouth dropped open, she half-shrieked, “The </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, “Did the Jedi not inform their students of these matters?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, no. No, the Council thought it better to… keep within a small circle.” Oh, so he was lying now. And he gave her such a pointed look as he said, “I apologize for the many questions she must have.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, she wondered if he was telling her to shut up, and then Lama Su seemed to… chuckle. Sort of. It was airy and slow, much like the rest of his speech. “I do not mind. Yes, young one, a clone army. And I must say, one of the finest we’ve ever created.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He wants her to ask all the questions </span>
  <em>
    <span>for</span>
  </em>
  <span> him! Because he was pretending to know what was going on! She turned a delighted smile into a sheepish grin before it could fully bloom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s the army for?” She asked, rubbing the back of her neck as if she were embarrassed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For the Republic, of course.” He glanced to Master Kenobi. “But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s why I’m here.” He made a vague gesture as they stood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he led them over an eating area, Ahsoka looked down at the men. The men were lively here, nudging against each other and laughing and talking. Their bonds resonated clearly here, but Master Kenobi said nothing, so she didn’t either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host. As a result, they are totally obedient, taking any order without question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt her gut churn at that. They were being described like </span>
  <em>
    <span>slaves</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Um… who was the original?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A bounty hunter called Jango Fett.” Master Kenobi jerked, as if recognizing the name. “We felt a Jedi would be the perfect choice, but Sifo-Dyas hand-picked Jango Fett himself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s he, then?” She pressed, doing her best to sound innocent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, we keep him here. After a few hundred thousand clones, the genetic pattern starts to fade, so we take a fresh supply. He lives here, but he’s free to come and go as he pleases.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They pass through a room with sleeping pods lining it as they continue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing— an unaltered clone for himself. Curious, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... unaltered?” She didn’t have to fake the curiosity there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it more docile, and no growth acceleration.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe that we would very much like to meet this Jango Fett,” Master Kenobi said, and the woman smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would be most happy to arrange it for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They passed the sleeping room, and into a wide room full of tanks with babies inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very impressive,” Master Kenobi murmured. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had hoped you would be pleased,” Lama Su nodded. As Ahsoka stared into one of the closest tanks, looking at the Human baby inside, he continued. “Clones can think creatively; you will find they are immensely superior to droids. We take great pride in our combat education and training programs. This group was decanted only five years ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, they stepped onto a balcony.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shock was, as always, her first emotion. And her mouth went way ahead of her brain. “There are so </span>
  <em>
    <span>many</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Magnificent, aren’t they?” the Kaminoan agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked over a sea of men in identical white armor, marching in perfect time. Faceless behind helmets. Yet she reached out in the Force and felt their ironclad bonds to each other, felt the vibrations of emotions they displayed through things so subtle, if one blinked they would miss it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Ahsoka was in </span>
  <em>
    <span>awe</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. mace windu needs a drink</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Attack of the Clones, as told by a report to the Jedi Council.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mace Windu was having a very, very bad day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head ached as he tried to process all of the shatterpoints that had been ripped open in the last week alone, and he needed to meditate and have tea with Depa </span>
  <em>
    <span>yesterday</span>
  </em>
  <span> but that wasn’t happening anytime soon. No, he was dealing with the walking migraine that was Obi-Wan Kenobi and his current… entourage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan himself was a good friend, and he had cracked open a whiskey with him on more than one occasion after Skywalker did something particularly reckless, but it was at times like these that Mace had to get a whole bottle of Corellian brandy (which he absolutely did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> win in a bar fight, no matter </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kit claimed) because of the stunts that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Obi-Wan</span>
  </em>
  <span> pulled. He would think that after so many hangovers, he’d finally expect this from the younger Master and not just Quinlan. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Speaking of Quinlan</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He turned his gaze to the unrepentant Kiffar. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You’ve done something, and I will figure it out.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Kenobi, what do you have to say for yourself?” he sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man had the audacity to </span>
  <em>
    <span>smile</span>
  </em>
  <span> at him like there wasn’t a fully-armored Mandalorian on one side and a blood-covered Padawan on the other. “We have completed our mission to protect Senator Amidala. I enlisted some help along the way, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got the results, but what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>kark</span>
  </em>
  <span> happened here?” He gestured vaguely to the group, ignoring the sharp looks he got for swearing in front of a Padawan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, you see…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jango didn’t like </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetiise</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he hated Tyranus far more than he disliked his Kenobi man. So as soon as Kenobi left his apartment, he sent a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very urgent message</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Tyranus, and watched in amusement as an astromech droid’s signature intercepted it within moments, and then Kenobi’s ship took off. Likely headed right for Geonosis. How he loved it when his hated allies got screwed over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t expect a Togruta girl to be standing outside his apartment hours later, wrapped in a cloak clearly too big for her and soaked to the bone, shivering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the name of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>ka’ra</span>
  </em>
  <span> are you doing out here, kid?” From the small puddles leading up to his door, it was obvious she had just walked inside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gave him a withering look, worthy of a sulky teenager, and just wrapped the sopping cloak around her tighter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stepped aside quickly. Jango wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he knew that this random child could very much be sent to kill him, but he was also honorbound to treat every child like his own. She hurried in, at least mindful enough to stand on the mat and not soak the rest of his floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Manda, you’re soaked. Bo’ika!” She tilted her head, studying him, but before she could say anything, Boba’s voice rang from down the hall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Lek, Buir</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bring a towel, and one of my cloaks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later, his son appeared with the items in tow, sending a questioning look at the girl. “Who’s she?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka Tano.” The girl spoke for the first time, accepting the towel with a grateful smile. “Sorry for the, uh… barging in. Master Kenobi said he was headed off to Separatist space, and he didn’t want to take me along ‘cause it could get dangerous, and Knight Skywalker was </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to pick me up but either he conveniently forgot or he’s ignoring me out of spite. So, uh. I asked Miss We where I could go to wait until someone shows up to get me, and she said you might be able to help but I can leave if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took Jango a solid minute to process all of that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi. She knew Kenobi, respected him enough to use his title but not familiar enough to use his first name. He was concerned with her well-being (as he </span>
  <em>
    <span>should</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she was a child and as much as he loathed to admit it, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetii</span>
  </em>
  <span> had made the right call not taking her along), so there was some level of familiarity. ‘Knight Skywalker’ sounded like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetii</span>
  </em>
  <span> friend of Kenobi’s, but she knew him enough to dislike him and know he disliked her in return. Conclusion?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a Jedi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a Padawan,” she shrugged sheepishly, carefully drying her headtails. “And I was only made one, like, four days ago. So like, a Jedi-in-training. The only real Jedi things I can do right now is float a rock for like three minutes and get a headache, and also badly use a ‘saber.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted to throw this small </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetii</span>
  </em>
  <span> back out into the rain, honestly, but his conscience was making a nuisance of itself and reminding him that this was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>child</span>
  </em>
  <span> and oh boy did that make everything more complicated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re either devilishly manipulative, or devastatingly stupid,” he told her bluntly. She blinked innocently up at him, and Boba snickered. “Tano, you walked into a random man’s house on the word of a stranger with nobody to contact if things went south, and immediately admitted your weaknesses.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t I be both?” Tano grinned, her sharp teeth catching the light for a moment. Her expression was all false sunshine, and she very clearly hadn’t thought of that at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Boba was smothering a laugh behind his hand, and Jango just shook his head disbelievingly. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Jetiise</span>
  </em>
  <span> are impossible,” he muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, I like to think I’m stubborn!” She practically beamed, exchanging the wet brown cloak for Jango’s black one. “Hah. I look like a Sith. Check it.” She pulled up the hood, pulling the most ridiculous menacing face he had ever seen as she attempted to loom over Boba with her unimpressive height.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that, the boy outright wheezed, doubling over as she made noses that were probably supposed to imitate lightning as she flexed her fingers at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>How was </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> a </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetii</span>
  </em>
  <span>? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jetiise</span>
  </em>
  <span> were cold and distant and looked down their noses at the rest of the galaxy, but here one was, messing around with his robe and doing her damn best to entertain his son.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kark</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he was gonna have to babysit a </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetii</span>
  </em>
  <span> until an older one showed up, wasn’t he?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>thirteen</span>
  </em>
  <span>! It was not </span>
  <em>
    <span>babysitting</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mace looked at the blood-covered Padawan as she broke into the Mandalorian’s story, and wasn’t surprised at all, really. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was definitely babysitting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Jedi Master sighed, interrupting the argument before it really began. “Master Kenobi entrusted Knight Skywalker with the retrieval of Padawan Tano. Skywalker instead followed his former Master to Geonosis with Senator Amidala. Jango Fett ended up as Tano’s temporary guardian. Kenobi, Amidala, and Skywalker ended up in the Geonosis arena for execution.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is correct,” Obi-Wan agreed calmly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then how did Padawan Tano come back into the picture?” Mace needed to lay down and nurse a gallon of spotchka at this rate. Something big enough to match the migraine growing behind his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I asked politely!” she chirped, looking far too proud of herself. He sighed again, deeper and longer, as he was reminded of Depa in her early Padawan days. Not really arrogance, but the childlike pride that came with accomplishing something everyone else thought they couldn’t pull off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And who exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> you ask, kid, because you certainly didn’t ask me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gold-and-white-armored clones glanced at each other from where they stood, just behind Tano. He had thought it odd that the Padawan insisted they accompanied her, but they didn’t seem too averse to standing silently at her back, occasionally trading looks. He looked at them in silent prompting. Apparently, they had their own side of the story to tell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you have room for one more?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex turned his gaze from his decee, noticing with surprise a cadet that was most certainly not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>vod</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She— the cadet was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span>, probably, with soft feminine features, looked up at him with stubborn blue eyes that were set in a sienna-and-white face, two headtails tickling her shoulders and another against the back of her neck. A Togruta, probably. Unless he was really that bad at telling Togruta and Twi’leks apart, and Twi’leks only had two headtails. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… sorry, who are you?” He squinted at the cadet, trying to tell if she held any resemblance to any of the Cuy’val Dar he had met, but was coming up blank. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Padawan Learner Ahsoka Tano.” The cadet blinked innocently. “You’re on your way to Geonosis, right? Or are about to be?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padawan, Padawan… wasn’t that what they called the Jedi cadets? Did that make her a general? No, she was young, still learning. What had the longnecks said about the Padawans? They were commanders, maybe? Probably commanders. “Yes, Sir, we are,” he replied carefully, glancing over to Cody. The marshal commander stared back, the slight rise of his shoulders the only indication of how equally lost he was. Great.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking a cadet into a warzone was against regs, right? Had to be. Probably.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great! Do you mind if I hitch a ride?” She smiled as if there was no problem with asking to be brought into an active warzone on a Larty, of all things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Sir, but if I may ask, why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, uh, everyone else is leaving, and I don’t really want to be stuck here alone for who knows how long, and also Master Kenobi is on Geonosis and that’s what this whole big rescue mission is all about, right? So I’m kinda worried about him.” She hopped up onto the larty next to him, chattering about the past few days that she’d spent on Kamino. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> trained for this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cody eyed Tano as she worked her way through the battlefield. The arc of her lightsaber was inelegant, with far too much energy wasted in a single swing, but droids fell at the flick of her wrist. What’s more, the Padawan seemed content enough sticking with the 212th, jumping from squad to squad whenever she noticed one getting overwhelmed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was a shiny, through-and-through, with no technique or any idea what to do in a battle, diving into danger headfirst without realizing the price of failure would be her life. Tano was undoubtedly saving lives, and kept him from getting shot in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>shebs</span>
  </em>
  <span> more than once, but he pitied the commander that would be assigned to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fox was leading his men not a hundred meters away, his shocktroopers in gleaming red-and-white with Thorn on one side and Skipper on the other. Cody checked on Rex, who was covering the Padawan’s six expertly. She darted wherever she felt like, it seems, but Rex kept pace, twin decees lighting up as he cut down whatever clankers got through her guard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Needless to say, he was not expecting the akul.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they finally made it to the arena, securing the area around it and advancing in to reinforce the Jedi, the bugs seemed to have one last trick up their sleeves. And that trick was releasing the beasts they had locked in cages all around the arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other beasts went down easily, even if they took down a good chunk of </span>
  <em>
    <span>vode</span>
  </em>
  <span> with them, but the akul was different. Cody fired and fired and fired, watching his bolts barely faze the massive creature. It seemed to grin as it tore a Lieutenant in half with teeth as long as his forearm, beady eyes full of malice and hunger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ducked as another grenade slammed into its side, staggering the beast for only a moment before it returned to crashing its way through the ranks of clones. Scraps of bloodstained robes between its teeth told the story of at least one, maybe more, Jedi that had fallen before Cody and the 212th had arrived.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were cousins of nexus, right? What were nexus weak to? Kark, he wished he had paid more attention to the wildlife module. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A harsh bark of an order from Rex— “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hold your fire!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”— was the only warning Cody received before Tano jumped directly onto the akul’s back with a shriek no human mouth could ever replicate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex pulled up short beside Cody, panting. “What the kark are the Jedi teaching their cadets?!” he hissed, and the commander could only shrug helplessly, watching in shock as she held her lightsaber in her teeth and tangled her tiny hands in the fur of the akul’s scruff, yanking hard. It bucked and bellowed, but she held fast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vaguely, Cody recalled that akul were native to Shili. Home planet of the Togruta race. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Padawan, that was very reckless of you. You are far too young to be doing things such as that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The retelling came to a stuttering halt as Obi-Wan fixed Tano with a disapproving stare. The Padawan herself looked unrepentant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Shaak Ti began, then paused, as if unsure how she should continue. “I was just about her age when I killed my first akul, Master Kenobi. It is a Shilian rite of passage.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mace really needed that spotchka. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly, thank you.” Tano grinned, which looked very unsettling, because she was still covered in dried blood. “So I killed it, and then…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tano, what in the name of Manda were you thinking?” Captain Rex knelt down beside her as she panted, flicking her arms and sending thick droplets of blood splattering into the red sand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maneuvering the akul away from the clones had been a lot harder than she thought, and maybe she got a little bit chewed on while she was trying to </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> kill it, but that was fine, this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Her hands were still too slick with blood to properly hold her ‘saber, and it wasn’t really helped by wiping them on her clothes because they were also soaked with sweat and blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, mostly I wasn’t,” she managed through gasps, staggering to her feet and wincing as she put weight on the leg that had been bitten. “But, uh, akul have a, a really high pain tol-tolerance, so, you have to, um. Go for the vitals.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You carved out it throat, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Vitals are gone now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t… yeah, okay.” Rex looped his arm around her torso, keeping her supported as she did her best to deflect oncoming bolts with a shaking hand. Why was she shaking so badly? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Padawan!” Another blast of plasma froze in its tracks before being redirected, slamming back into its owner. Master Vos stared at her for a moment. “I thought you were on Kamino!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got a ride!” she called back breathlessly, and Rex stepped away as the elder Jedi made his way over to them. “Have you seen Master Kenobi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty sure Obes is blowing up a droid factory,” he replied, and then flashed her a smile, throwing his ‘saber like a knife and keeping his hand out, guiding the spinning green blade through a platoon of droids. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She barely avoided getting shot in the face as she stopped, gaping at the Jedi Shadow. “How did you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> that!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll show ya later, here, try this.” He dropped a metal ball in her hand, and she yelped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is a bomb, Master!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure is!” He beamed, calling his ‘saber back to his hand as Rex dragged the both of them behind a downed tank, apparently annoyed with them standing in the middle of the battlefield. Which was stupid in retrospect. She’d have to thank him later, when she wasn’t being handed bombs by her master’s friend. “Now you’re gonna want to throw it low, alright? High makes it easier to shoot out of the air before it hits the target. Then you’re gonna want to give it a little Force-push to make extra sure it gets there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka frowned, glancing at Rex, who just shrugged back before returning to firing at the incoming droids. She was never the best at calling on the Force at the drop of a hat, but she could try.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a quick underhanded throw, she sent the now-blinking thermal detonator towards another cluster. She closed her eyes for a moment, ducking down to avoid getting shot.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hey, uh, Force, can you help me out here?</span>
  </em>
  <span> she asked silently, and then </span>
  <em>
    <span>pushed</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ensuing explosion took out a whole droid </span>
  <em>
    <span>tank</span>
  </em>
  <span>, almost thirty meters further back than she’d aimed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, not what I was going for but great job!” Master Vos laughed, patting her head in the valley between her montrals. “Try using a little less power next time so you don’t overshoot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Vos, she decided, was fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the meeting finally drew to a close, Mace took a deep breath. The group finally filtered out, chattering to one another like jackdaws, and Plo was walking out with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Depa slid up to his side, patting his shoulder. “Let’s go get wasted, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Agreed</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the delay, I needed a break from everything for a while. This chapter is one of the weirdest I've written.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. commanders and callsigns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Enter the 212th.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Sirs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka blinked at the clone as he held out a datapad for her and Master Kenobi to look at. Kenobi nodded, taking it with a thankful hum. She hesitantly reached out in the Force, trying to feel if he was someone she knew, but she didn’t remember being near im before. Probably. She had a pretty bad memory. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looks like Anakin has been assigned as the general of the 501st Legion with a Commander Appo. Aayla is the new general of the 327th Star Corps with Commander Bly. Quinlan’s been registered as the Coruscant Guard general with Marshal Commander Fox, but I suspect that it’s mostly a formality, considering he is more often than not offplanet for missions…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about Master Unduli and Barriss?” she asked, stepping a bit closer to try and read the datapad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, yes, you and Padawan Offee would have been créchemates. She looks to be assigned to the 41st Elite Corps with Commander Gree.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, where are we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Patience, Padawan mine,” he admonished, and Ahsoka took a step back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I accept your apology, young one.” He gives her a reassuring smile, and she can’t help but practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>beam</span>
  </em>
  <span> back. “I have been assigned as the high general of the 7th Sky Corps, due to my status as a Master, it appears. More specifically, our personal division would be the… 212th Attack Battalion. With a Marshal Commander Cody.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I know him!” She perked up a bit at that, already trying to cast out her senses like Master Yoda had tried to teach her. It wasn’t really all that successful, though. As usual. “He’s Captain Rex’s, ah… superior, I think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commanding officer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” She nodded enthusiastically. “I was with them on Geonosis, and they came in to help give the report, remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded slowly, a hand coming up to stroke his beard as he passed the datapad back to the clone, who saluted before jogging off. “Yes, I do recall. Gold stripes, the captain had a battle-skirt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A kama, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka nearly jumped out of her skin, turning to see Rex and Cody approaching. They saluted in perfect unison, and the young Togruta shook herself out of her surprise. “Hi, Captain! Hi, Commander!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander, General.” Captain Rex nodded formally, but she vaguely felt the amusement buzz beneath his skin. Which was odd, because she was typically really bad at reading people. “We were ordered to report to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t suppose I could convince you two to call me Obi-Wan?” Master Kenobi asked wryly, and was met with the two calmly shaking their heads. “Very well, then. I don’t believe we’ve formally met— I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And yours, Sir.” Cody nodded stiffly. The silence hung oppressively over the four of them, and Ahsoka frowned, trying to think of how to break it. Turns out, she didn’t have to, as the clone commander spoke again. “This is my second-in-command, Captain Rex, Sir. Commander Tano will be working with him as you do with me, General.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned her head towards Rex, tilting her head in curiosity. The captain looked back steadily from behind his black visor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… I outrank you?” She ventured hesitantly, feeling her face contort into a grimace at the idea. Geonosis had been terrifying and complicated and she couldn’t even begin to understand half of the orders Cody had been giving out. Being in charge would be cool, if she was in charge of something she </span>
  <em>
    <span>understood</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In my book, kid, experience outranks everything.” For some reason, it didn’t sound like a rebuke, or an insult. Just a gentle reassurance. Ahsoka felt her shoulders loosen a bit, and she smiled at him, hoping it didn’t look as nervous as she felt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess I better get some experience, then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took Ahsoka less than an hour on board the 212th’s flagship, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Negotiator</span>
  </em>
  <span>, for her to decide she really didn’t like it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ship felt… empty. New things always did, before it was filled with the impressions of memories she couldn’t quite read, the walls woven with the emotions that had permeated them. With so many men on board, it was bound to warm up soon, but it wasn’t just that. For the first time in her life, she was staying long-term on a ship with no connection to nature. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her bare feet didn’t make a sound against the cool floor, and she hated— not hated, hate was too strong of a word— she felt extraordinarily uncomfortable with how </span>
  <em>
    <span>clean</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was. No soft dirt to dig her toes into, no weathered stone tiles she could skim her feet over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard the footsteps long before she saw them approach. Sharp, militaristic footsteps, each measured and perfectly timed. She slowed as she approached the corner, not wanting another repeat of slamming into someone for the second time in a week. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>(A week! It had only been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>week</span>
  </em>
  <span> since she was made a Padawan!)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander Cody,” she called simply, right before he came into view. She heard his footsteps falter, and then keep going until he was around the corner, looking down at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander Tano.” He shifted slightly, and she blinked up at his face for the first time. A massive scar cut far too close to his left (her right) eye, and his face was… much younger than Fett’s. “I didn’t realize anyone else would be out so late, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep, ah, Sir?” She tilted her head slightly, trying to tell if she had used that right. The clone blinked, and then gave her a quiet smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we’re just about the same rank. Jedi commander and marshal commander are both above a typical commander, and no one ever specified who was higher up. You don’t have to call me Sir, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then don’t call </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sir,” she snipped back, a smile growing on her face. Thank the Force, someone that wasn’t either in charge of her or she was in charge of! “It’s only fair, Commander.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cody paused, then shrugged. “I suppose it isn’t technically breaking regs if you give me permission. Commander Tano, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ehhhh…” she made a face. “It would feel weird because you don’t have a last name I can use.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, there’s CC-2224, but that’s a bit of a mouthful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt her lekku flick in her agitation, and she hurried to bury it. Numbers. Right. Because they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>clones</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it made rational sense, but still… did that mean they picked their own names, or were they given them along with their numbers?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hoped it was the latter, but suspected the former. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’d probably trip over my own tongue trying to shout that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cody is a callsign, in all technicality,” Cody mused. “It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> against regs to call natborns by their first name, but there’s nothing against calling them by their own callsigns. You have one, Commander?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callsign— like a nickname? She frowned. “Everyone just calls me by my name. Or Padawan. But that could get confusing when we work with others, right? If they have Padawans, too.” The clone nodded thoughtfully, leaning against the wall as she spoke. “And getting called </span>
  <em>
    <span>little one</span>
  </em>
  <span> or </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid</span>
  </em>
  <span> by everyone would get annoying really, really fast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence stretched between them, and Ahsoka chewed her lip, trying to think of anything. She didn’t really have friends, other than Barriss, and Barriss just called her Ahsoka. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… I dunno.” She shrugged, looking up at the clone commander. “You have any ideas?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not really.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, great.” She sighed. “All the nicknames I can think of about my species just sound really xenophobic.” She definitely didn’t want to be called </span>
  <em>
    <span>tailhead</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We usually name ourselves or our brothers based on their personalities, or things that they like,” Cody thought aloud. “And from what I’ve seen of you, you seem to be, well, forgive me for saying this, but a snarky cadet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t contain a snort. “Commander </span>
  <em>
    <span>Snarky Cadet</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was thinking more along the lines of Commander Snips. Snark is one of the pilots, and he’s rather proud of his name.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snips.” She tried out the word, rolling it on her tongue, before she beamed to Cody. “I like it! But I should probably try to go sleep now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you tomorrow, Commander Snips.” He saluted, and she awkwardly attempted one in return. Silently, he nudged her into the correct position, and she smiled a bit wider. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you, Commander Cody.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Padawan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morning, Master.” Ahsoka blinked exhaustedly, squinting at the datapad the admiral had given her. She really hated waking up early. She woke when the sun rose, and not a moment before. With no sun in transit, she felt extraordinarily off-put. Everything felt like it was too early to be awake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“May I call you Ahsoka, young one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, Master.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.” He smiled, and then began to scan his own datapad. “Ah, it appears this meeting is to be more about introductions and learning how we will coordinate than anything else. It will be a valuable meeting indeed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you cannot communicate with your fellow officers or your men, you will not work together coherently on the battlefield, which could lead to conflicting orders and the deaths of your troops.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slid open, giving entry to two gold-painted clones. “Couldn’t have said it better myself, Sir. One might even think you have military experience, if you talk like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid that is a story for another time, Commander,” Master Kenobi said, already turning to the table. “Care to inform myself and my Padawan of our current numbers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, General. In the full 7th Sky Corps, there should be several other Generals under your command, but unless called on, they will act independently. Case in point, General Skywalker and the 501st Legion.” Rex looked to Cody, and Ahsoka did as well, assuming that meant he was going to continue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she was right. “The 212th Attack Battalion is made up of just under one thousand troops, all under your direct command. The other three battalions of the legion make up the 212th Support Regiment, with roughly three thousand men between them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Impressive numbers,” Master Kenobi commented, and Ahsoka swallowed back her own thoughts on the matter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wouldn’t do any good to argue. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t like this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she realized, trying to choke back the bitter flavor on her tongue. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t like this, I don’t like having so many people relying on me, I don’t know what I’m doing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m going to get them all killed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka, am I right in assuming you have no combat experience outside of Geonosis?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Master.” It hadn’t felt this overwhelming before. Why was it all so suffocating now? Why did she care so much about it? No, she knew why she cared, but why did she feel like she was drowning in it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(The screams of the dying, feeling the flames of their souls extinguished in the Force. Not fast enough, not practiced enough. If Master Kenobi was there, he could have saved them all, but the soldiers had been stuck with </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> instead. She had frozen when she saw the akul, her joints locking, </span>
  <em>
    <span>how many men died while she stood there?</span>
  </em>
  <span>)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rubbed her arm, still aching from the healing gashes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I must entrust you to the expertise of Captain Rex.” Master Kenobi nodded to the clone, and she smiled at him weakly. “My apologies for, ah, assigning you to training my Padawan, but I’m afraid I will have to brush up on the art of war before I am qualified to teach her it.”</span>
</p><p><span>That was the </span><em><span>second</span></em> <em><span>time </span></em><span>he’d implied he’d been in a war before. What the Sithspit?</span></p><p>
  <span>Still, the captain saluted to her, and she did her best to imitate the salute Cody had corrected her to in return. From the </span>
  <em>
    <span>shock-surprise-delight</span>
  </em>
  <span> she felt flaring in the Force— again, </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she wasn’t all that good at reading people— from both commander and captain, she must have done it right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment, both men took their helmets off. It was, ironically, harder to see them in the fluorescent lighting, but they were both darker-skinned, like Fett. Which she should have expected. Cody’s eyes seemed a bit more gold in this light, though, and Rex had buzzed blond hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They aren’t identical</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she realized, and immediately berated herself for thinking otherwise. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What does Barriss always say? The same genotype doesn’t make the same phenotype. Idiot.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex eyed her warily, and she switched her gaze back to Cody. Maybe being blond made him self-conscious? She’d certainly feel weird if she was obviously different from her species. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Kenobi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it, Padawan?” He looked at her curiously, and she swallowed hard. She had imagined what it would be like to be a Knight, negotiating treaties and rescuing slaves. But she had never, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> envisioned leading a war. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aren’t… aren’t Jedi supposed to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>peacekeepers</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He went very quiet, and then sighed. “Sometimes, to bring peace, one needs to break it.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. shattered city</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Battle of Christophsis begins.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>wow twice in one week?? amazing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Commander!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An explosion rocked the earth just as Ahsoka caught the warning tone and dove down, taking the nearest clone with her. He yelped, and the shrapnel very nearly missed clocking him in the head. “Thanks, Commander!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anytime,” she panted, letting him help her stand again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The battle had raged for </span>
  <em>
    <span>hours</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and she saw no end to it. The once-beautiful city had been ravaged by one of the first conflicts of the war— the battle for Christophsis. She didn’t quite understand why this planet was so important. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is it really worth all this death</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she wondered to herself, chest heaving as she crouched behind the newly-made rubble with the clone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got a name?” She tried for a smile, and knew it came out more like a grimace. Still, he nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jesse, Sir. Saw you taking down that akul on Geonosis— nasty beast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got lucky,” she dismissed with an exhausted shrug. And the more she thought about it, she realized just </span>
  <em>
    <span>how</span>
  </em>
  <span> lucky. She could have gotten infected from the bite, or bled out, or gotten thrown and damaged her lekku or spine or </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span>, could have been crushed or ripped to shreds or eaten—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>— on second thought, Ahsoka really didn’t want to think about that right now. Oh, Jesse was saying something. “General’s telling us to fall back, regroup, but they’ve got a tank, we can’t make a break for it with that pointed at us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She really, really wished she was allowed to swear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain!” She hissed over the comms, and immediately heard the crackle that meant he was listening. “We have any options?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not many,” he replied, his voice strained as another bomb went off. Ahsoka bit hard into her lip, containing a cry of pain at the feeling of at least half a dozen soldiers joining the Force. She didn’t deserve to be hurt by it, they were dead. They paid the price, not her. “We need that tank taken down if we want to retreat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have any contact with Master Kenobi?” She asked, feeling a little desperate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, the Seps started interference right after the last order. Long-range comms are compromised. We’ve got short-range only.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, Force. That meant Cody was out of reach, too, and she had </span>
  <em>
    <span>no karking idea</span>
  </em>
  <span> what to do. Another life-spark was extinguished with a rain of blasterfire, and she felt her hands shaking. </span>
</p><p><em><span>No, stop that!</span></em><span> she snapped to herself. </span><em><span>Don’t be a coward! Think!</span></em> <em><span>Think, think, think… tank. How can I take out that tank without exploding it? It’s too close, someone will get killed if it explodes… </span></em></p><p>
  <span>Her lightsaber felt warm in her palm, but not hot or burning. Simply warm, like someone was holding her hand. She forced her jaw to unclench, wincing as she tasted blood from her harshly bitten lip, and glanced at Jesse. “Any way to make a tank stop without blowing it up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, maybe? Hardcase, </span>
  <em>
    <span>vod</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you’re the explosives man.” He turned his gaze to another clone in the trench, who wiggled in place like he could have danced with excitement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The cannon is the main problem, Commander,” he announced. “If you can cut that off with that laser sword of yours, Sir, the next time the Seppies try to fire, they’ve got about a minute to get the kriff outta there before they’re blown into atmo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A minute? Rex, can you and the men get clear of an explosion within a minute of me taking out the tank’s cannon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A crackle, and a pause. “We can try, Sir, it’s better than the other options we’ve got.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about the hurt?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... I don’t know, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Karking </span>
  <em>
    <span>karkity kark</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She balled her fists, trying to focus. “Buddy system, then? Everyone in threes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never heard it phrased like that, Commander, but I’ll relay the order.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, run when I stab the tank, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yessir!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Okay, this is fine, not like that could kill me with one shot because I definitely don't have the energy left in my body to try and deflect one of its bolts.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you at the meeting point,” she said, and before anyone could stop her— well, more like before she thought too hard about it and chickened out— she leapt over the rubble and ran at the tank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blast her!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kriff!” Ahsoka jumped over a wave of plasma, sliding awkwardly on the broken pavement when she landed. The tank was only twenty feet away— a hop, skip, and a jump, really. As she stared at it in blank terror, the cannon was shifting to aim for her. “Ohhhhh, I regret this, I’m gonna die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>KEEPER, MOVE!</b>
</p><p>
  <span>The words assaulted her mind without a voice, only the all-encompassing feeling of </span>
  <em>
    <span>danger-danger-danger</span>
  </em>
  <span> flooding the Force, and she leapt again, barely avoiding becoming a pile of ash as one of the tank’s bolts slammed into the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait a second!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain, change of plans! I can draw the tank’s fire, give you more time!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go, Rex!” Before he could protest, she shut her comm off, and darted closer to the tank. It fired again, leaving a scorch in the earth beside her, and she sucked in a frightened breath, already moving to go around the tank. It began to turn with her, away from the clones, and she saw Rex pop up just as she had it fully away from them. Her montrals faintly picked up his shout for retreat over the din, and she grit her teeth harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next blast made the world pitch under her feet, and she went sprawling with a hiss of pain. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kark!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ahsoka barely rolled out of the way of the next shot, and she risked a glance at the men. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She saw the last making a break for it, some being carried on the shoulders of others, and the Padawan looked up at the tank, which was beginning to turn towards them.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no you kriffing don’t!</span>
  </em>
  <span> At once, she rolled back onto her feet, ignoring how her muscles wailed at the effort, and sprinted towards the tank once again, her ‘saber seeming to move of its own accord.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With the screech of metal and a hiss of pure heat, the cannon was severed from the tank.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One minute. You have one minute, Ahsoka, get your sorry butt outta here—!</span>
  </em>
  <span> She stumbled away from it as the droids shouted in alarm, their high voices assaulting her montrals without mercy. Her head was spinning, and she pumped her legs harder, trying to move </span>
  <em>
    <span>faster</span>
  </em>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>— something slammed into her back, and she screamed, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>burning-fire-BURN</span>
  </em>
  <span> sending her into a scrambling fall as she desperately tried to right herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>This is not where you die, Keeper,</b>
  <span> the voiceless words told her. And for some reason, she believed them. Ahsoka whimpered through her clenched teeth, hauling herself up once more as she glanced over her shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just a bit of flaming fuel</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought to herself, a bit hysterical as she slapped at it, hissing as she hit her burned skin, quickly putting the fire out. The exploding tank, right. Ahsoka had gotten clear of most of the shrapnel, but hadn’t really counted on fiery liquid flying at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Captain?” She fumbled with the wrist comm, watching it light up and hearing the crackle. “Everyone alright on your end?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander Tano!” He sounded… relieved? “We made the retreat with minimal casualties, Sir, and the General isn’t far from our position, ETA twenty minutes. Where are you, Sir?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… not too far behind, I think?” She was definitely stumbling her way after them, but probably moving slower. “I’ll see you there in a few.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... I’ll send a medic back for you, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Captain.” Vaguely, she remembered the conversation she’d had with Cody the other day. “An’ you can just call me Snips.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snips?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Callsign. Cody helped.” Was the ground supposed to be pitching around like that? She leaned against the closest building, panting for breath. “That okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yessir— or, Snips.” She could almost hear him shaking his head as the connection cut, and she closed her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just had to wait for the medic to show up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Might as well meet him halfway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pushed herself off the wall, taking one unsteady step after another, one foot in front of the other, forcing her legs to carry her through the broken city. It could have been minutes or hours before the white-and-gold armor of one of the 212th men caught her eye, and she waved weakly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander!” The clone— medic, probably— deftly made his way to her side, taking her arm and draping it over his shoulder before picking her off her feet. She squawked indignantly, but he just huffed. “Sorry, Sir, but you’re injured. Have to get you to the RV point before I can check you over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, uh…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kix, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Kix.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. shattered peace</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Battle of Christophsis rages on, and Ahsoka finds herself in the middle of trouble-- so, nothing new.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A quick note to the readers, since I saw this question. Yes, most of the 501st boys will be 212th here, with exceptions like Tup, who genuinely doesn't  have a reason to be 212th, as he was deployed as shinies to the 501st rather than split from the 212th when Anakin was Knighted.<br/>Thank you for reading, please leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ahsoka half-stumbled into the base camp with Kix at her side, her back well and truly in a world of pain and feet aching from the broken concrete she had been walking over for the better part of an hour. The base itself was abuzz with activity, troopers making repairs to damaged war machines or drop-ships. Others carried crates of what were probably bombs and guns. Still others carried the wounded into the base, likely on their way to the medical wing that had been set up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Padawan!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master?” She looked up, just in time for Master Kenobi to kneel in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders as he scanned her face, and winced as he noticed the burns on her shoulders and back, quickly pulling his hands back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only a second-degree burn, Sirs,” Kix reported. “No skin grafts should be necessary, or time in a bacta tank. Just bed rest and bacta patches.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Kix.” Cody strode up, gaze fixed on Ahsoka for a beat before Rex appeared at his side, and he continued with whatever he had been saying before. “Commander Snips, you had one hundred and forty-four men, including Captain Rex, under your command. Do you know how many casualties?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thirty-two.” The number spilled from her lips before she could really think about it, and she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “Three taken out by the tank when it first arrived, eleven before that during the initial firefight, fourteen by an explosion, and the last four sniped.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex paused, and then glanced at Cody with a nod. “She’s correct.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sensed the spike of surprise, and glanced down again before he spoke. “Considering you and your men were up against at least a company’s worth of battle droids, you did well. I must ask, before the tank showed up, was there anything unexpected?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… not that I can think of?” Honestly, she had been more focused on destroying as many of the stupid droids as possible before they could kill anyone else, but she hadn’t seen anything that wildly deviated from the predictions Master Kenobi had made. Besides the tank. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi looked from her to Cody, briefly appearing baffled, before he fell back into Jedi calamity. Kriff, she wished she could do that! Just shove all of her emotions down and focus on the here-and-now, like Master Yoda always said to, instead of get angry over nothing all the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On our end, about halfway through the battle, things started going horribly wrong. Like they knew our strategies. It’s very troubling.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So we’ve got a snitch?” Ahsoka asked absently, and blinked in surprise when the four men looked sharply at her. “What? I’m just pointing out the obvious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There could be probe droids, or they’re intercepting our orders.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” She shrugged, and hissed in pain when she realized that it was a bad idea. “What can I do to help?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come with me to the medbay, Sir,” Kix told her sharply. “You need to rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rest… didn’t sound too bad, actually. Nodding tiredly, she let the medic half-drag her to the medical bay of the base, practically throwing her in one of the empty cots off to the side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the less-than-gentle treatment, she grinned. “Thanks, Kix.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Always, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost immediately after the bacta patches were applied to her scorched back, she laid down on the cot, and let her eyes fall shut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Aruetii</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The foreign word jerked Ahsoka out of her sleep, and she blinked hazily, trying to focus her eyes. Rex, Cody, and someone else were running down the hall, their footsteps loud and angry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slid open, and a clone sergeant skidded in, reeking of desperation, before his eyes landed on her.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Uh-oh</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the only thought she could summon before there was an arm locked around her throat, and the cold barrel of a blaster pressed hard against her montral. She yelped, hearing the subtle buzz from inside die as he switched it off of stun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She choked on her own breath for a moment, then clamped her mouth shut, panic and </span>
  <em>
    <span>desperation-anger-HATE</span>
  </em>
  <span> permeating the air, so thick she couldn’t taste anything else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only seconds later, Cody and Rex were in the doorway, their blasters up and pointed at— her? No, they were pointed higher, at the sergeant holding her.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What in the name of the Force?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ahsoka thought, only a few nudges away from fully-blown panic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Slick, drop the blaster,” Cody ordered, and she shuddered. His tone was cold, killing every desire to argue she had in her body. “Surrender, you’re surrounded.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not quite,” the sergeant— Slick— hissed back, and she yelped as his arm tightened around her throat. There was something in his hand. A little </span>
  <em>
    <span>click</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Outside, she heard explosions. She felt the ground shake under the force of them, sensed hundreds of lives being extinguished at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have no ordinance,” Slick grunted, and Ahsoka winced as the blaster was pressed harder against the soft skin of her montral. “No general to keep you pinned down. I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>liberating</span>
  </em>
  <span> us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You just killed </span>
  <em>
    <span>how many brothers</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Rex barked back, and she saw the fury etched into his body, despite the armor. “That’s not liberation, that’s murder.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be like that, </span>
  <em>
    <span>vod</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’m saving all of us. There has to be sacrifices for that.” The barrel was heating up, and Ahsoka went absolutely still. “The </span>
  <em>
    <span>jetiise</span>
  </em>
  <span> can’t keep us as their slaves if we fight back, there’s more of us than there are them. And it can all start with this </span>
  <em>
    <span>laandur</span>
  </em>
  <span> commander.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, stars, he was gonna kill her. And maybe Master Kenobi, wherever he went. Where the </span>
  <em>
    <span>kark</span>
  </em>
  <span> is Master Kenobi?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of the clones had paused, apparently processing the information, and she felt fearful tears burn in her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No!</span>
  </em>
  <span> She couldn’t be a coward— wouldn’t! Not when there was still screaming outside, not when this one man had killed </span>
  <em>
    <span>so many</span>
  </em>
  <span> for whatever ‘liberation’ he was talking about. She was small and young and tired, but she was a Force-damned </span>
  <em>
    <span>Togruta</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not just any Jedi! She was born on a planet of bloodshed and predators, and she’d killed an akul, even if she had gotten lucky! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not dying here, nerfherder!” Ahsoka snapped at him, and before he could react, she jerked her head back before snapping forward again, latching her jaw into the plastoid and </span>
  <em>
    <span>biting</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a terrifying moment, nothing happened. Then, with no other warning than a creak, the armor splintered under her fangs, and she was biting down into fabric and flesh, digging her teeth into the sergeant’s arm. The plastoid cut into her mouth, and she wasn’t sure if she was tasting her blood or Slick’s, but she clamped her jaw shut even harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>screamed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, throwing his arm out in an attempt to dislodge her, but with her newly-freed arms, she grappled at him, refusing to let go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were two bright flashes, and Slick went down. She smelled static— stun shots. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snips, are you alright?” Almost at once, she felt a pair of hands on her, pulling her up, and she opened her mouth, wincing. Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ow</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that hurt. That hurt a kriffing </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “And… you’ve got armor shards in your mouth. Of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex. Her eyes focused on the two odd markings above his visor, and nodded to him, wincing as she managed to cut her tongue on one of the smaller pieces. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Helix!” Cody called, and almost at once, one of the medics that had been at the edges of the sudden murder attempt— oh, holy Force, someone had just tried to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill her</span>
  </em>
  <span>— slid forward, guiding Ahsoka away from the stunned sergeant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex stuck by her side closely, even as Cody hauled Slick away. Probably to the jail thing. Prison? Cage? She didn’t know, and couldn’t really ask, so she kept her silence. “Kriffing Sith hells, Snips, I was gonna just stun him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In reply, she gestured at her mouth, then at her montral, making a crude finger blaster. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Imitating pulling the trigger, she once again pointed at her montral, and then mimed cutting her throat. Helix practically forced her jaw open, and began working on pulling the plastoid shards out, muttering blackly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aren’t those horns just big ears?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>di’kut</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Helix snapped. “Togruta’s montrals are extremely delicate and </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> important to processing sensory information. If it’s damaged badly enough, like from a </span>
  <em>
    <span>blaster shot</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the shock it sends to her brain could kill her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The medic pulled away for a moment, and she nodded empathetically, rubbing the spot she just </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> would bruise later. Better than being shot, but still… uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But this was… well, it wasn’t fine, but Master Kenobi would know what to do. He had to, because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> didn’t. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. shattered army</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The end of the Battle of Christophsis.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ahsoka was unhappily having the pieces of plastoid removed from her mouth, spitting a mouthful of blood into a bedpan Kix offered with an apologetic grimace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It should heal quickly,” the medic concluded, glancing to Helix for confirmation. At the returning nod, he went on. “Here’s a fun fact for you, Commander, saliva contains bacteria that helps you heal faster, and is a natural antidepressant. Since this is an oral injury, with regular bacta rinses, this should heal in less than a week.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, and made a face at the liquified bacta offered to her. Rex gave her a sympathetic look, and she raised a brow marking in return. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Kix extracted the last white (well, more red now) shard, dropping it into a biohazard container with a sigh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex sat down in the tiny folding chair beside the cot she was nested in, studying her face carefully. She tilted her head, looking back at him in quiet contemplation. And then Kix prodded her, holding out the bacta expectantly, and she groaned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ick.” She really, really disliked how bacta </span>
  <em>
    <span>smelled</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and as she tipped the glass back to put it in her mouth, she shuddered violently, violently shoving down the bile that threatened to rise in her throat. It tasted like raw plant matter and chemicals, two of her least favorite things, and it wasn’t really liquid, just very, very slimy.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You okay there, Commander?” the Captain asked as Kix finally, </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> let her spit the disgusting sludge out. “I’ve seen cadets react better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ughh</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she groaned, empathetically dropping her head into her hands. “Tastes like tree bark and bleach.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I even want to know why you know what those taste like?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bleach has a very strong scent, and scent and taste are practically the same thing,” she replied, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “And I chewed on a tree branch once, on a dare. Picking splinters out of my teeth for </span>
  <em>
    <span>days</span>
  </em>
  <span> after.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gross.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly!” She sat up, scowling fiercely at the bedpan before standing up slowly, picking it up and moving to the sink, picking up a rag and grabbing the disinfectant. Cleaning wasn’t her favorite activity, but it kept her hands busy while she was stuck in the medbay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka scrubbed at the bedpan as the water began to run, and Rex stood, already by her side again. Carefully, he prodded her shoulder, and she hissed wordlessly as the rough armorweave of his glove rubbed against the burns. It was more of a bad sunburn, now, but it was still </span>
  <em>
    <span>painful</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Commander.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” she grit out, rolling her shoulders and hating how tight her skin felt. “Just a little sore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka!” She heard the door open, and turned just in time to see her master come in, worry radiating from him in sickly scented waves. The Togruta grinned, shoving down the lingering fear that curled in her throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I came as soon as I got the comm— are you alright, Padawan?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing permanent,” she told him, a bit awkwardly. “I’ll be alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He relaxed minutely at that, but still eyed her carefully. “I understand you were attacked by the traitor— are they dead or captured?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captured, Sir,” Rex offered dutifully. “Sergeant Slick attempted to frame one of his men before running for it. Commander Snips defended herself, and he was incapacitated by myself and Commander Cody.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He breathed out slowly. “Good work, Captain. And you, Padawan. Though onto more worrying matters, it appears that the sergeant was feeding information to a Sith Acolyte named Ventress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ventress?” She frowned, and then the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sith Acolyte</span>
  </em>
  <span> registered. “Wait a second! As in Dooku’s apprentice?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately,” he frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t know if she used mind-tricks to exaggerate his already existing thoughts, or if he worked with her willingly, so we will have to have a Mind Healer look him over before we make any decisions.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sir, all due respect,” Rex began, his expression carefully controlled, “but Slick killed at least two hundred brothers on a whim, and there wasn’t any Dark Jedi around influencing him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you’re right.” Master Kenobi nodded, looking saddened, and sighed. “We need reinforcements, we need resupply, but long-range communications are still out, and we’re in quite the situation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“General Kenobi!” Another clone burst into the room, and Ahsoka jumped, immediately chastising herself. She should have been listening for footsteps! “There’s an energy shield! They’re keeping it ahead of their troops, the turrets can’t break it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi was already halfway out the door, turning to call, “Captain, Padawan, with me!” before vanishing into the hall. Ahsoka dropped the bedpan into the sink, giving Kix an apologetic look as she began to sprint after her teacher, only a few steps behind Rex.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She skidded to a halt just outside the base, eyes going wide as she looked to the horizon. Her daylight vision wasn’t the best compared to a human’s, but she saw the red glow, and felt the waves of dread undulating through the clones as they stopped to stare at it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka bit back a groan, wincing as one of her canines grazed a gash in her cheek. “Well, kark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is such a bad idea,” she groused aloud, shooting a </span>
  <em>
    <span>look</span>
  </em>
  <span> at Rex. “Why are we doing this? We’re going to get caught so fast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Being crammed under an empty supply crate with the clone captain was uncomfortable enough, even if she hadn’t heard the droids marching closer. Unfortunately, that was exactly what was happening, and she was really, really not happy about that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” He hissed back. “Cody came up with this stupid plan! Why didn’t you tell him no?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I’m a teenager with almost no field experience, and Master Kenobi was nodding along, so if I argued he’d give me the </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re far too aggressive, Youngling”</span>
  </em>
  <span> speech and I don’t have the energy to deal with that!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She cut herself off with a muffled whimper as the energy shield passed over them. The buzzing from it rang in her montrals, a high-pitched whine of electricity threatening to deafen her, but it was gone in the blink of an eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her chest constricted, and she held her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Droids moved, marching as one, streaming past the overturned crate as if it were any other piece of rubble scattered in the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her toes attempted to dig into the duracrete, but only curled futilely against it.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And just like that, the metallic footsteps rang their way into the distance, and she sucked in a relieved breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You alright, Commander?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, you just smell like sweat and that’s gross.” The joke seemed to lighten his Force signature a bit, and she smiled awkwardly, shifting so that she was now carefully lifting her end of the crate. Rex copies the position, and the pair awkwardly shuffled forward. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ducked her head low, ignoring the pain in her shoulders as she did so, and chirped through the crack between the crate and the ground, closing her eyes. The echo hit only a few feet in front of Rex before vanishing, and she planted her feet, hissing, “Stop!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yessir,” the captain replied, and then glanced back at her as he stopped in his tracks. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Either a sound barrier or a crater up ahead.” She chirped again, and listened intently. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>think</span>
  </em>
  <span> it’s a crater. We have to skirt the edge.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It only took a handful of minutes to get around the crater, and then they were finally clear to throw off the box. Rex scanned the area, and she checked the little pack Master Kenobi had given her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hum of the generator was close. Very close. She grabbed a detonator, preparing to sprint the last stretch, but Rex threw out an arm, stopping her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoa, there, little’un.” She scowled at the nickname, but he paid it no mind. “See those?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he gestured, she squinted, trying to focus on what he pointed out. “Little… needle things?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pressure sensors. Set one off, and the whole base knows we’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. So she had been just about to jump into a field of those. “Sorry…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No trouble this time, Snips, just look before you leap.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I will.” Ahsoka paused. “Can we get across without setting them off?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unless you’ve got some really well insulated boots, Sir, no. Even the General’s boots would be too heavy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rex.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sir?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t wear shoes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pregnant pause before he snickered. “Then try not to trip on any of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t!” She snapped back, slinging the pack over her front and passing the detonator switch to Rex.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carefully, she put her foot on the duracrete, balancing lightly on the balls of her feet as bit by bit, she picked her way across the empty lot, right up to the generator.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It almost seemed to scream with how loud the wailing was, now that she was at its source. She growled, gritting her teeth and began setting the bombs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Twenty bombs was probably overkill, but hey, it got the job done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was halfway back to Rex when she heard metal footsteps, and froze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you aren’t supposed to be here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kriff. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sensors beeped as she began to sprint, her ‘saber igniting to bat away a stray bolt. She could hear more droids coming, and a breathless laugh escaped her as she saw Rex stand, already running away from the generator.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ducked a bolt of plasma, a breathless and panicky laugh bubbling out of her chest, and Ahsoka ran for her Force-damned life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And when the explosion sounded behind her, she was on Rex’s heels, watching the shield go down.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. have you Seen it?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Force is, as always, frustrating and cryptic.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Keeper…</b>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka frowned, feeling something tugging at her, but shook it away, trying to focus on the report Master Kenobi was giving to the Council.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced at her, likely a prompt to continue where he had left off, and Ahsoka nodded, picking up the story. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sometime after Master Kenobi left, I heard shouting from the halls, and Sergeant Slick came into the medbay, taking me as hostage so that Cody and Rex couldn’t shoot him. He talked about freeing the clones, and then just… detonated some charges he must have hidden in weapons storage. I bit him so he’d let me go, and the others stunned him once I was clear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Excellent cooperation, Padawan,” Master Ti praised, and she smiled, even as their attentions returned to Master Kenobi. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Keeper,</b>
  <span> the not-voice repeated, far more insistently. Her head throbbed, and Ahsoka grimaced. </span>
  <b>Do you See it?</b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>See what?</span>
  </em>
  <span> she wondered to herself, and if anything, it just made her headache triple. The needle-like pain stabbed into the base of her skull, and she barely managed to bite back a hiss. Hels, if she didn’t know better, she’d say the Force was clinging to her, digging unseen claws into her mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka!” Hands, hands were on her shoulders, knees on the durasteel floor, </span>
  <em>
    <span>when did she kneel?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t breathe. No, she could breathe, but even as she sucked in air, her lungs felt starved, her head spinning and it hurt </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much</span>
  </em>
  <span> and she felt her mental shields shattering—</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Keeper!</b>
  <span> the not-voice called, and she blinked rapidly, trying to steady herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was standing, again. The acrid smell of smoke assaulted her senses, and she gagged, shaking her head hard as the view came into focus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fire. Smoke poured from the windows of the Temple. She heard screaming, a youngling crying before their voice went abruptly silent. Darkness swirled around her, thick and oily, and Ahsoka couldn’t breathe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Faceless soldiers marched past, and she felt them struggling, desperate to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and a buzz of </span>
  <em>
    <span>goodsoldiersfolloworders</span>
  </em>
  <span> drowning them out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the Darkness tore through the Temple, Light dimming and being extinguished, as Ahsoka lurched forward, running for the Temple doors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The créche was a slaughterhouse, children and babies alike dead on the floor. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see anything but the little Togruta, her chest cut open and blood roared in her montrals—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could suddenly breathe again, and instead of the Togruta kit, she was staring up at something blue. Blue… eyes. Blue eyes in a man’s face, her </span>
  <em>
    <span>master’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There you are, Padawan.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“M-master,” she managed to say, and he slowly raised her up into a sitting position. She saw Rex and Cody crouched not far away, concern radiating from them in the Force, and she winced, closing her eyes. “What—?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You had a vision,” Master Kenobi supplied. “Do you know where you are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hy-hyperspace?” She could hear the hyperspace engines humming. “The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Negotiator</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good,” he nodded. “Commander, Captain, could you finish the report while I take my Padawan to rest?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, General,” Cody nodded, standing swiftly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt herself being lifted, and her head ached, but not with the same intensity it had been before. She pressed bonelessly against Master Kenobi as he carefully carried her from the bridge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Between one blink and the next, she was being set at the low table in his quarters, and Master Kenobi was on his feet, moving to the small kitchenette. She smelled dried herbs and spices, vaguely registering that he was making tea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he set a cup down in front of her, she stared at it for a long, long moment before picking it up, not really drinking it, but holding it between her palms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did you See, Padawan?” Master Kenobi asked gently, and she shut her eyes, wishing she hadn’t Seen anything at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Temple was burning. All the younglings were dead.” Her voice came out as more of a tearful croak than anything, and she couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t look at her master’s face. “Hundreds of soldiers marching in, killing everyone. I could hear them begging not to, but something was </span>
  <em>
    <span>making</span>
  </em>
  <span> them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi had gone quiet, his heart speeding and his scent strangled with </span>
  <em>
    <span>dread-fear-sorrow</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master?” She cracked open her eyes, and saw how his skin was snow-white, eyes distant and fixed on something she couldn’t see. “Master!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He jerked, and shook his head, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>dread-fear-sorrow</span>
  </em>
  <span> dissipating. “Forgive me, young one. I have had similar visions, myself, when I was younger. It has been some time since then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> be having a vision of it, then?” Her voice wavered dangerously, and Ahsoka bit her lip, trying to choke back the horror that had mounted in her throat. “I’m just… Ahsoka Tano, and if you’ve had it before, what was the point of me knowing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps,” he mused, taking a sip of his tea, “the danger has not passed since I was a Padawan. Perhaps instead, it grows closer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka followed Rex on quiet feet, trying to ignore the things Master Kenobi had told her the day before. Instead, she focused on the feeling of the cold metal under her feet, focused on returning the salutes passing soldiers gave her and the captain. Focused on the color of the mats as he led her into a training room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, Commander. Try and hit me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Try and hit you?” She stared at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need to learn how to fight, Sir.” He was only in armor from the waist down, which seemed pretty practical, and then he seemed to remember something. “But probably stretch first, or you’ll be feeling this for days.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, okay.” After another moment of awkward hesitation, Ahsoka began to go through the motions of stretching for katas, bouncing slightly when she was finished. Rex nodded, gesturing to one of the sparring mats.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The first thing you’ll want to learn, Commander, isn’t how to throw a punch.” His voice was even as he spoke, but a glint of mischief danced in his eyes. “It’s how to keep from getting hit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She yelped, undignified and alarmed, as Rex seemed to move in a blur, and her back hit the mat hard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was not going to be fun.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A shorter chapter, but a necessary one.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. we can't</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ahsoka is trusted with her first mission without Obi-Wan. Only time will tell if she and her squad will pull through.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ahsoka sighed as Cody dragged her through the halls of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Negotiator</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Commander, I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Last time I let you go into a warzone in </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you ended up with burns covering your back and plastoid in your mouth, plus all the shrapnel you managed to step in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s nothing wrong with my outfit!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It might work on Shili, when you’re fighting </span>
  <em>
    <span>animals</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but a fabric </span>
  <em>
    <span>tube top</span>
  </em>
  <span> isn’t gonna hold up against a blaster shot, Snips.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cody!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ignored her, continuing to drag her along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you even think you’re gonna do?” she challenged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Put you in decent armor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka cringed. “Oh, hels no!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> wearing that clunky plastic! I won’t be able to </span>
  <em>
    <span>move</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better than being dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not by much! If I can’t move, I can’t use my ‘saber right, and I can’t go as fast as I need to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, I’m sure you’ll be thankful for it when you get shot in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>shebs</span>
  </em>
  <span> and you don't die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She huffed in return as she was pulled into the armory, shooting him a dirty look as he picked up a set of gauntlets with a grimace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're kriffing </span>
  <em>
    <span>tiny</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Snips. It's gonna be a chore to find something that won't just fall right off of you…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or you could save yourself the trouble and—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am not letting you go into battle unarmored again. Bad idea. Piss-poor one, actually. You're smaller than most of the cadets I’ve met. Honestly, you could've gotten killed, and then I’d have a dead kid on my conscience…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She barely heard him after that, eyes fixing on a dark visor and staring into her reflection. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dead kid. A little sienna Togruta, her chest slashed open, smelling of burned flesh and coppery blood pooling around her. Blue eyes wide and glassy, terror etched into her tiny face, tiny lekku’s blue stripes almost white with her fear and tears streaking white-patterned cheeks.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snips? Are you with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blinking rapidly, she shifted, feeling… heavier. Physically. It took a few moments to realize it was because she was wearing… armor. Over her usual outfit. “Um. Yeah, sorry. What’s all… this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knocked on the solid plastoid on her shoulders. “Pauldrons, and I managed to dig up a chestplate that I can ask Rex to resize later. Other than that, just bracers, boots, and leg armor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She moved again, trying to pull her knee up to her chest, and grimaced. “This is way too stiff…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hummed, then offered a shrug. “Maybe a kama would work better for you. More flexibility, but it’ll still keep you from getting shot in the legs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess so…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka rid herself of the leg armor, only hesitating at the shin guards and boots. She really didn’t like stepping on rubble, but her feet on the ground were the only things that connected her to nature some days. Her hands brushed the clasp before she drew away, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting yet again. She’d get used to it. Not like there was much nature to connect with in a warzone… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is a kama. Battle-skirt, in Basic, but we call it a kama.” Cody was holding out the skirt thing Rex wore, and she accepted it gingerly, making an awkward attempt to put it on. The clone gently corrected her a few times until all the (unnecessarily complicated, in her opinion) buckles and straps were properly in place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was… heavy. Definitely weird to move in, but it didn’t restrict her nearly as much. She gave an experimental kick, and Cody snickered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your form is terrible. Has Rex taught you </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Snips?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He taught me how to throat punch,” she defended, and he only laughed to himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough. I’ll need to join in your little sparring sessions if you want to use your legs, though. I can show ya how to spin-kick a clanker without breaking anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, seriously? Is that why Helix was cursing at you earlier?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see the commander managed to get you into armor,” Master Kenobi smiled, and she scowled back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I can imagine. Making such a transition will be difficult indeed… at any rate, Padawan, I thought it would be pertinent to spend this time before we must answer a call from the Council meditating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meditating?” she groaned, hunching over. At his raised brow, she sighed. “But </span>
  <em>
    <span>Master</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it’s just really boring to stare at a wall!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What gave you the impression that meditation was just staring at a wall, young one?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oddly, it didn’t sound like a rebuke. Just a question. Ahsoka sat, falling into a meditative position, and frowned harder. “Because it’s just a lot of sitting and staring. Master Plo says I need to clear my mind, but that never works, so I just end up staring at a wall again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, that is the trouble. Too many rogue thoughts, impossible to banish them all. Anakin struggled with much the same, though I do hope you can adjust to meditation better than he did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have a different method, Master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do, in fact. A shame your créchemaster never taught this to your class, I’ve found it works for active minds much better. Please, Padawan, do close your eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She complied, still frowning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. Ahsoka, what do you feel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… the floor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reach into the Force, then. What is there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me, you. Some bugs. The men passing by in the halls.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, very good. Now, focus on me. What can you sense?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She extended her aura slightly, poking at her master’s. “Nothing. Just a shield, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not quite. Can you see deeper than that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, she really couldn’t. His shields were ironclad, and she wasn’t all that great at getting through them. Still, she prodded it again, this time harder, and scowling as again there was no give. “No, Master.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you sense me through our bond?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she berated herself, following the steady yet young bond to her master, carefully making her way up to the shield and then just… passing through it. Or at least the outermost layer. Thicker and harder shields kept her from going deeper. “Um… surface thoughts? Projections, I think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Approval brushed against her mind, warm and reassuring. “Yes. Now, Ahsoka… imagine your favorite place in the Temple.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sucked in a breath as the scene took shape before her eyes. The Temple gardens spread out around her, and she and Master Kenobi were sitting at its heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled at her. “Instead of trying to rid yourself of your thoughts during meditation, I do suggest… making them a landscape. I, myself, am rather fond of the Room of a Thousand Fountains.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do I… how do I do that?” she asked haltingly, glancing around at the foliage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quite similarly to this, I imagine.” Master Kenobi closed his eyes for a moment, then picked a leaf up from the ground. “I focus on a thought or memory, and I store it in something. Here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He passed it to her, and Ahsoka brushed her fingertips over the leaf. From it, she got a vague sense of </span>
  <em>
    <span>melding</span>
  </em>
  <span> a thought to the leaf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A memory? She scrunched her face as she tried to find one small enough to try this with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe running into Knight Secura? That worked. Probably. She focused on that— the distraction, then turning a corner and slamming into the rushing Knight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She passed the leaf back, and Master Kenobi held it for a moment. “A good first attempt. I will teach you later to focus more on smaller details, so that the memory will be clearer when you look for it here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Later?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. I do believe my comm just went off.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She blinked a few times, and her vision cleared until she was sitting back in Master Kenobi’s quarters, her limbs stiff with lack of movement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come along then,” he said, standing with a stretch. “I’m sure the Council wants us off on one mission or another.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bith system. What was so important about the Bith system? She had no idea, really, only that the 212th was supposed to be stationed there. Still, she listened attentively to Master Plo. He had called them only minutes after the Council had. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe I have found the Separatist’s super-weapon in the Abregado system,” Master Plo was saying, and Ahsoka leaned forward, focusing on the Kel Dor’s flickering holo-image. “We need reinforcements.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Kenobi gave her a sideways glance, frowning to himself. “I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do, Master Koon. We’ve been ordered to protect the Bith system by the Council. Can your fleet handle this alone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Force willing, maybe… but this super-weapon has left no survivors before.” His voice was grave, and Ahsoka felt a chill go down her spine. No survivors. Her finder could </span>
  <em>
    <span>die</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “We will move to engage it. Admiral, relay the or— What in the name of the Force is </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The transmission cut, and the Togruta Padawan stared at the holotable in blank horror. “Master, we need to help him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hands were on the holotable, gripping it harshly. “We can’t. We cannot disobey direct orders.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her bond with Master Plo swam with </span>
  <em>
    <span>dread-apprehension-horror</span>
  </em>
  <span> before she felt the Jedi Master forcibly close it, and Ahsoka felt tears burning in her eyes. “We </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to! We can’t just let them all die!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka.” She turned her face to her Master, feeling anger and fear boiling in her chest, and prepared to snap back to whatever he threw at her. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span> cannot disobey direct orders. The 212th and I must stay here. You can take a squad and find the 104th.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She balked, staring at him incredulously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go, Padawan. Master Koon is my friend, as well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The LAAT/i felt almost empty, though Ahsoka was hardly alone. A gunship was hardly ideal, but it was the only thing they had on hand that could fit eight. Ahsoka, Rex, the pilot, and then the five clones that made up the squad they had chosen. She shifted, palms clammy and skin shining with cold sweat as she gripped the handle hanging down from the roof of the gunship, forcing herself to remain motionless and avoiding stumbling by nothing but pure force of will as they lifted out of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Negotiator</span>
  </em>
  <span> hangar bay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got static,” the lone unpainted trooper reported as he pressed his hand to the side of his helmet. Probably over the receivers. She focused on him, and heard the distinctive buzz from his helmet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dammit, Ridge, did you remember to go through the pre-flight checks?” the sergeant, probably Denal, sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, don’t swear in front of the commander,” Rex scolded as he elbowed Denal, and Ridge shuffled his feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did!” he insisted. “I went through the checks and everything, I don’t know what’s going on with it…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can try to help, if you want,” Ahsoka volunteered, choosing to ignore Rex. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… sure, Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whump!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Ridge was clutching on to the handle above him as he steadied himself, sounding like he was stifling a laugh. “That worked, actually. Thanks, Commander.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snips is fine,” she replied with a shrug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is percussive maintenance a Jedi thing?” Hardcase questioned from where he stood by Jesse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hah, no. Barriss would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrified</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex had helped her pick out the squad. Right away, she had asked for Jesse, Hardcase, and Kix, remembering them from Christophsis, but Rex had chosen Denal— someone he’d fought with during Geonosis— and Ridge, a newbie that needed experience. And their pilot. Snark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d laughed to herself when Cody volunteered the pilot, recalling that her fellow commander had mentioned him when she was trying to pick a callsign. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Commander,” he greeted her as she ducked her way into the cockpit, sitting in the copilot’s seat and watching the stars fly by in streaks of blue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” she murmured in return, shoving down the dread that pooled in her gut. “Just Snips is okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A… callsign, sir?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. I probably would’ve gone with Snarky Cadet, but Cody said you had Snark already. So, Snips. I think it’s a bit easier to say.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t fault you there.” She heard the slight grin lilting his voice ever so slightly, and she smiled back, small but genuine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t aware he even knew I existed,” Snark shook his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He knows a lot of things, like how I’m pretty much useless in a ‘saber duel and that Master— </span>
  <em>
    <span>General</span>
  </em>
  <span> Windu used to have hair.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He used to </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her laugh was cut short as the blue of hyperspace disappeared, and she was staring into the drifting ruins of the 104th Support Battalion’s fleet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do we turn back? Report our findings?” Kix was asking, and Ahsoka tore her gaze away from a shattered escape pod, the troopers inside dead. “There doesn’t look to be any survivors, just like the others.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex sighed, glancing at Ahsoka, and she shrugged back, fiddling with the bracer Cody had more or less shoved on her. “There has to be something, </span>
  <em>
    <span>vod</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Denal had his helmet off, frowning at he tapped various codes into his comm. “I’ve got the remains of a distress signal, but nothing else. Commander Wolffe was broadcasting it, and then it cut out. Said he and two other troopers were with General Koon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex’s aura shuddered with pain, and Ahsoka bit her lip hard, putting a hand on her lightsaber. It hummed to her gently, a frequency likely only she could hear, as if trying to give her comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Plo— um, General Koon’s alive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Six pairs of eyes fixed on her, and though Snark was in the cockpit, she could sense his attention directing to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… I have a Force bond with him. He closed it, but if he was dead, I would feel it… break. So he can’t be dead, or I’d know about it. And I know he’d protect anyone that was with him, so if he’s alive, the others might be, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She flinched as the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the transparisteel of the cockpit rung in her montrals.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So many were dead. </span>
  <em>
    <span>So many</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the echoes of their deaths drifting in open space. But Master Plo wasn’t. She had to believe that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If she didn’t believe he was okay, who would?</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've changed the Malevolence arc... like a lot...</p><p>Please please PLEASE leave comments! They motivate me to write so I can get chapters out to you guys faster!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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